TIME100 Climate 2026: 100 Individuals Leading the Energy Transformation
Clean-energy investments will nearly double fossil-fuel spending this year, according to the International Energy Agency.
When TIME launched its climate list in 2023, funding from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act flowed through the U.S. economy. Three years later, market desire drives new investments rather than Washington policy, time.com reported.
Fervo Energy carried out one of the biggest U.S. renewable-energy initial public offerings in history during the month of May. This milestone was fueled by the geothermal-energy company’s Cape Station plant in Utah. By the close of 2026, the site is slated to output 100 MW of power, with another 400 MW scheduled for 2028, supplying enough electricity to service 500,000 households.
Around the world, countries and companies turn to technologies that were developed as climate solutions and now also offer energy security, speed, reliability, and increasingly attractive economics, Justin Worland wrote in TIME.
The 2026 TIME100 Climate, co-edited by Emma Barker Bonomo and Kyla Mandel, examines Fervo CEO Tim Latimer and 99 other individuals leading this transformation.
Chief Executive Robert Dunn oversaw the planning and creation of the 1.2-gigawatt Sines Data Campus in Portugal, which is an artificial intelligence data facility designed to run exclusively on renewable energy while utilizing seawater for cooling. Microsoft announced a $10 billion investment in Sines at the end of last year, time.com reported.
In neighboring Spain, CEO Mario Ruiz-Tagle led Iberdrola España through a period of rapid expansion of wind and solar resources. Ever since March, that growth has positioned the typical Spanish household to experience a 10-euro reduction in their monthly energy costs, despite Europe facing severe pressure from high oil prices.
Value, rather than values, drives much of this change. Headed by CEO Suman Mishra, India-based Mahindra Last Mile Mobility achieved an 85% year-over-year expansion during the first quarter of fiscal year 2027, securing its position as the top seller of electric three-wheelers in the nation.
Juan Carlos Muñoz spearheaded Chile’s transition to electric public transportation. Santiago now has the largest fleet outside of China. Jit Bhattacharya, chief executive of BasiGo, is spearheading the deployment of leased electric buses along with supporting charging infrastructure across Kenya and Rwanda to phase out diesel-powered transit.